Another vote for the Sheffield Direct to Discs(and no compression). The Thelma Houston/Pressure Cooker album, will REALLY test a system’s mettle, played at anything close to realistic levels. Doug Sax will probably always be my all time favorite Music Mixologist/engineering talent. What a shame, to have lost him! Acoustic Sounds bought his entire facility(The Mastering Lab), from his estate. Crystal Clear made some excellent Direct to Discs. If you want to test a system/room, for bottom end response, get The Fox Touch(Virgil Fox playing the Fratelli-Ruffatti Organ, in Garden Grove, Calif.). That album has some 16Hz fundamentals on it(the 32’ pipes). The early MFSLs were great too(especially Dark Side of The Moon). Their new ones(anything after they started making CDs), not so much(to me). Nautilus put out a few REALLY well mixed/mastered/pressed, 1/2 speed mastered discs, Fleetwood Mac’s, ’Rumours’, being my favorite of those releases. Then there’s their Heart/Dreamboat Annie, too. I even enjoy some of the old Telarcs(ie: Stravinsky’s Firebird). If you can locate an original pressing of Ry Cooder’s, Bop ’Til You Drop, it was the first major-label(Warner Bros.) vinyl, to ever be digitally mastered and is a lot of fun. I sold a lot of speakers, using that as a demo album. Glad I learned how to care for vinyls, early on. My old, "audiophile" pressings were certainly worth the time/effort. Hell- I’ve still got my original Columbia, Dave Brubeck/Take Five. I can’t imagine a better mix/pressing (audiophile or not), though there may be one out there. In my opinion, one of the things that made a lot of those vinyls so very good, was the use of tubes, in those old recording/mastering/cutting systems.
Audiophile LP's
That title sounds pretty general but I didn't know how else to name it to attract some attention. For several decades in the production of vinyl the sound quality has widely varied due to recording process, pressing, and other factors. I remember years ago that some commonly available LP's were also available in a much higher quality (and a higher price) than the standard LP and offered superior sound quality. Can't remember all the terms to describe these records but direct-to-disk, master recording, and probably a few others I can't recall. Back then I never purchased any of those since when the needle dropped and music was there what else mattered? To buy a record at 2 or 3 times the standard price didn't make sense to anyone I knew at the time.
My question....I know that numerous sellers on the web list LP's for sell as "mastered", "audiophile", and the like. Back in the day were current sellers offering these truly superior records just trying a ripoff? If not, are most of the ones still in existence only are owned by private collectors?
My question....I know that numerous sellers on the web list LP's for sell as "mastered", "audiophile", and the like. Back in the day were current sellers offering these truly superior records just trying a ripoff? If not, are most of the ones still in existence only are owned by private collectors?